DECISION time was due this week on a £40 million Government funding bid which would allow an important West Somerset coastal road to be reopened.
Somerset Council applied in April for a share of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) £1 billion structures fund for the B3191 Watchet to Blue Anchor road which has been closed at Cleeve Hill for the past three-and-a-half years because of coastal cliff erosion.
October 6 was the earliest date given for a DfT announcement of successful bids, although it has since more vaguely started referring to a decision ‘in the autumn’.
The campaign to reopen the B3191 was kick-started by Exmoor farmer and political campaigner James Wright after the council declared the road would remain permanently closed due to lack of funding.
Mr Wright, who is chairman of the Conservative South West Rural Forum, collected nearly 1,200 signatures on an open letter calling for efforts to be made to reopen it.
The council, which originally said it would invest £30 million regenerating a Yeovil theatre but could not afford the B3191 work, then put together an application to the DfT for a significant share of the cost of rerouting the B3191 inland away from cliffs.
Mr Wright said this week: “Watchet is a fantastic town with a bright future, but with the B3191 closed, it has put pressure on the roads and it has seen a decline in the numbers visiting the high street.
“Reopening the B3191 would bring visitors back along the coast, give local businesses the boost they have been missing, and give young families a good reason to stay.
“None of that can happen without this investment.
“I am hopeful Ministers will see the benefit to Watchet and the surrounding villages and give it their blessing.”
If successful, the council would have to complete the B3191 diversion by March, 2030.
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